On the back of short supply and very high demand, beef quotes continue to move in a positive direction, with factories that didn’t move up with quotes last week forced to up quotes this week to get cattle.

Base quotes for bullocks are coming in at €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg, while heifer quotes are coming in at €5.20/kg to €5.25/kg, the higher end going to those with numbers and regular customers.

Foyle Meats in Donegal remains out in front with its base quote of €5.30/kg for bullocks and €5.35/kg for heifers, once both kill out between 300kg and 400kg.

Flat prices have also improved, with up to €5.55/kg being paid a mixture of O grading heifers this week. Bonuses of 30c/kg are still available to those wishing to sell on the grid.

All sorts of side deals are being done on haulage and bonuses.

Farmers are advised to bargain hard when selling and sell hard over the coming weeks when the supply/demand curve is in their favour.

Cows

The cow trade has also seen some improvement, with quotes lifting, especially for farmers with larger numbers to sell.

Factory agents and wholesalers are very active competing in marts again this week for slaughter-fit cows.

O+ suckler cows are generally working off €4.65/kg to €4.75/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €4.55/kg to €4.65/kg, depending on which factory you are dealing with.

R grading cows are being quoted at €4.85/kg to €5.00/kg and higher money is available where numbers are involved.

P+3 cows are working off €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg, depending on weight, age and flesh cover.

Well-fleshed U grading cows continue to command a top price of €5.00/kg to €5.20/kg and over it for young fleshed heavy cows.

Good-quality feeding cows are making between €2.60/kg and €3.00/kg in marts, so it’s hard to argue with farmers who are choosing to sell in marts as opposed to fighting with agents for a few cents in a couple of weeks.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are still working off a €5.35/kg to €5.45/kg base price for U grading bulls.

R grading bulls are coming in at €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg.

P grading bulls are working off €5.00/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover. Under-16-month bulls are generally working off €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg.

Last week’s kill came in at just under 40,000 head. The total figure is one thing, the devil is in the detail when you drill down.

The cow kill was up over 400 head, with the majority of these being P1 dairy cows, yielding very little meat and no good for the retail trade.

The bullock kill is in freefall, with the kill falling by a massive 3,000 head/week over the last four weeks from a high of 19,172 head for the first week of October to 15,936 head last week.

Numbers are expected to tighten a lot more in the coming weeks and some factories have moved to tell their big feeders to have beef on hand at the end of the month for them to be able to fill contracts.

Prices across the water continue to improve, with another 2p to 5p lift in beef prices in the UK over the last seven days. The gap between the British and Irish price remains at over €1/kg.

NI comment

Base quotes remain on 482p/kg (€6.08/kg inc VAT) for U-3 animals, but in-spec steers and heifers are freely making 500p/kg (€6.31/kg), with regular finishers reporting 5p/kg more is available.

In-spec bulls are on 494p/kg (€6.23/kg), with young, good-quality cows on 400p (€5.05/kg).